Forgive the typos. Enjoy.
She might have broken her wrist.
Correction: she was sure that she had broken her wrist.
Correct Correction: she was sure that she had broken her wrist running into Kara and landing haphazardly on the ground.
In Summary: she should have stayed at L-Corp.
Instead, she thought today would be the best day to venture outside. She thought that today, of all days, would be the day she gained a little piece of herself back. The sky was clear and blue, the streets were loud and bumping, the idea of fresh air was simply too captivating to pass up. She should have known better. She should have known that when a good thing seemed too good to be true, it most likely would be something she'd later regret. And here she was, reaping the benefits of her misguided judgement. She sat annoyingly in front of her ex-friend/ lover/ whatever the hell they were and she was sure she wanted to be anywhere else.
Kara insisted that the women sit down after their collision. She wanted to make sure the brunette had ice for the bump on her head and for her increasingly swollen wrist. Lena, of course, refused to call for medical attention; despite it being obvious that she might be a little concussed. Although, medical attention or not, Lena knew the aching in her head wouldn't cease if she had a certain blonde within her line of vision.
And Kara, despite her best wishes, wouldn't leave.
So, here they sat, across from one another staring at nothing, contemplating everything; wishing to be as far as they could away from each other.
Lena looked up from her wrist, allowing her eyes to land on the blonde in front of her. She looked different and, at the same time, all the same. Her hair had been warned typically, half up and down. The same chic pair of glasses adorned her face. She still wore her typical Kara Danvers outfit. However, she had a different look in her eyes than she normally carried. Instead of the reoccurring sparkle in her blue eyes, the blonde eyes looked tired. As if they had seen everything the world had to offer and left with sheer and utter disappointment.
A part of Lena marveled in that look. She liked the idea that Kara was just as miserable as she was and that it showed all the same. Another part of her hated herself for being happy that the blonde could look so sad. She hated herself for being one of the reasons she was in such a state.
The brunette was torn from her thoughts at the shifting of the ice upon her wrist. She knew that despite the ice, she would have to go to the doctors to get it set in the first place. The ice was doing nothing for her broken limb, if anything it was prolonging the inevitable. Lena winced as she shifted the ice onto her wrist before using her uninjured hand to place a pack onto the right side of her head.
"Does it hurt," Kara questioned, looking up from the phone she was holding. Lena titled her head to the side, noticing that besides herself Kara's concentration remained on her phone. That was the whole reason they collided in the first place. Something on the woman's phone had distracted her enough to forget to pay attention. And although Lena could see that she was trying to be, Kara wasn't fully there.
Lena shrugged her shoulders. Answering the woman nonchalantly, "I've had worse."
Kara placed her phone down in front of her, sitting up straighter as she shifted near the younger woman. "Lena, I am so sorry. I didn't see you coming. I wasn't paying attention, if I did I swear I would have moved or something."
Lena sighed, placing the ice pack from her head onto the table and sizing the blonde reporter up. "How is it that you are perfectly fine?"
Kara shrugged her shoulders, fidgeting with her glasses as she began to stutter. "What—what do you mean?"
Lena rolled her eyes. She wasn't dumb. Despite not noticing a lot of things, there was one thing she couldn't help but see: Kara Danvers and National City's Supergirl were one in the same. She knew that the day that Supergirl came into her office and she confirmed it the first time she and Kara had fallen into bed together. She understood that the blonde wanted to keep her identity safe from her in hopes of protecting her, but pretending that this wasn't a clear example of the blonde being an alien was a little much. What if it hadn't been Lena that she ran into but someone else? What if someone who had been paying attention put two and two together and realized that Supergirl had a day job? The blonde needed to be more cautious, she had to be better at hiding things and paying attention when it became necessary.
Lena decided the drop the conversation, Kara didn't tell her for a reason; and now wasn't the time to push the subject. Up until now the two weren't one speaking terms. And if Lena was being completely honest she wasn't sure this would count as speaking to one another, either. "Nothing," the brunette murmured.
The brunette winced once more, leaning her head onto her palm as she closed her eyes. Yes, she definitely had a concussion. "I think that you should let me take you to the hospital," Kara spoke up.
Lena sighed, "We've already discussed this. I'm not going to the hospital, I am fine."
The blonde shook her head, standing up and leaning over the table to get closer to the brunette. "No, we said that you wouldn't go to the hospital if you seemed better after sitting down. But you don't. You keep wincing when you think I'm not looking and your wrist looks worse. I'm pretty sure you've broken it."
With eyes still closed, Lena pushed the blonde's hand away from her head as Kara gently attempted to check her bump. "Stop mothering me, Kara. I decide whether I'm going to the hospital or not and I've decided that I won't be," the woman said with a bit more bite than expected.
Kara sat back against her chair, folding her arms over her chest as she exhaled loudly. "Sometimes, I forget how stubborn you are."
Lena opened her eyes, glaring at the woman. "I'm not stubborn."
Kara laughed at the woman, "You sure about that," she mocked.
"You know what," Lena began, placing her uninjured hand onto the table, "What the hell are you even doing here, Kara?"
Kara scoffed at the woman's tone. She was impressed, honestly. It took them thirty minutes before arguing, that was a new record for them. At least since everything went wrong.
"What, I can't be concerned?"
Lena sighed, "I don't mean here…actually, no, I do mean that too. But more importantly, why the hell are you on this side of town. You don't work here or live over here. In addition, why did you feel the need to make sure I was okay?"
Kara glared at the woman, acknowledging her tone as she responded, "You don't own this side of town, Lena. And last time I checked you don't work over here either. I had an interview at Porter Tech for Catco and I was leaving when I ran into you; not that I have to explain myself or anything. Also, you're my friend and you're important to me. I'm always going to make sure you're okay."
The brunette leaned back in her chair, "We aren't friends, Kara. Last time I checked, you've made that very clear that you want nothing to do with me."
The reporter sighed, "We can't keep doing this, Lena."
Lena sighed, the blonde was right, they couldn't keep doing this. They couldn't keep arguing with one another. To argue you had to be fighting for something and they had nothing left to fight for. Despite Lena's wanting to be with the woman, Kara did exactly what she thought she would. In the end, she realized that she could do better than the brunette and left her to think about the mess that she created. With Hector's advice, Lena allowed herself to think that for a second she and Kara could have been something special. And when she showed up that night and found Kara wrapped around the redhead she should have known that it was all over. She shouldn't have stepped inside her apartment to hear it from Kara's lips.
Now, sitting in front of her, both physically and emotionally in pain by the woman was the world's way of stomping on her while she was down. She didn't have the energy to fight back against it. She didn't have the energy to stay remained in that seat. They couldn't keep doing this, not if Lena chose to take herself out of the equation.
Lena reached in her back pocket. Taking out cash and dropping it onto the table. "For the ice," she stated as she stood up and walked out of the building. She groaned when she stepped outside, her concussion punishing her for choosing to step into the sunlight. She made a sharp turn, opting to go home instead of back to work or the hospital.
"Lena," she heard shouted behind her. "Lena," she heard once more. The brunette kept walking, already knowing where the voice was coming from; she didn't need to wait for the woman to catch up.
"God, Lena, would you just slow down for a second," Kara shouted behind her.
"The whole point of me walking away from you, Kara, was to actually get away from you. If I slow down it would just be counterproductive."
"Lee," Kara sighed, jogging to catch up to the woman.
Lena rolled her eyes, "Just go away, Kara."
The blonde grabbed the younger woman arm, gently tugging her to a stop. "I'm not going anywhere until I know you're alright or until I know that you're going to get your wrist checked out. Your friend or not, I still care about you and I need to know that you're taking care of yourself."
Lena continued to stare at the woman, as always, she didn't know what to say. She didn't want to say anything, to be honest. She was too busy feeling everything for words to form on their own. She needed Kara to get away. She needed Kara to do what she had been doing for the last couple of weeks and ignore her. It was better for her coping, it was better if she went around under the impression that Kara didn't care. Because if Kara didn't care about her she could rationalize that. She could understand why someone who didn't care would act like they wouldn't. However, she couldn't understand why someone who apparently cared for her, would consciously and intentionally ignore her pleas for communication. She wouldn't understand why someone who cared would allow her to feel the way she does.
Was Lena taking care of herself? Barely. But none of that was Kara's concern. She had no right to see if she was doing well. She had no right to chase after her as if today hadn't all just been one wrong moment after the other. Kara couldn't be talking to her had they not run into each other. Kara would not be making sure that she was taking care of herself if she didn't see the woman in the state she was in now. Today was the best Lena had looked in a long time, but still she didn't look at her best. And a small part of her knew that Kara knew that she was to blame. This wasn't compassion Kara was showing, it was guilt, Lena knew that look all too well.
"Why would it matter," Lena questioned, rhetorically.
Kara shrugged her shoulder, staring at the hand that rested onto Lena's arm. "I don't know. I guess—I guess I just missed you is all. And a part of me will always want to make sure that you're okay."
Lena squinted her eyes at the woman. Who the hell was she to request such things? Who was she to say all of that? She missed her? She would always want to make sure she was okay?
Lena scoffed, ripping her arm from the reporter's hold while she glared at her aggressively. She noticed the younger woman flinch under her gaze. Most likely the result of Kara never seeing the Luthor this upset. Or at least never seen her look pointed towards her.
"You don't get to say things like that to me, anymore. You're the one that called things off—"
"I know," Kara interrupted.
"Do you," Lena questioned. The blonde remained silent under the younger woman's glare. "I asked you a question, Kara. Do you? Because before today it seemed like you did. You were doing everything right, following the guide of "How to Move On" better than anyone I've ever known. You didn't answer my calls. Didn't reply to my texts. You ignored me that night I stopped by your house. Before today it seemed like you remembered that you're the reason why we are not together. And now suddenly you care? You'll 'always want to make sure I'm okay,' you've got to be fucking kidding me?"
Kara stepped closer to the smaller woman. "Don't make it seem like I am this heartless person who suddenly woke up one morning and left you. Last time I checked you are at just as much fault as I am. Yes, I called everything off and said that we should move on, but that was after, after you didn't say anything."
"I did say something," Lena shouted. The brunette shifted her attention from the blonde momentarily. Turning to notice that people on the street were noticing the scene she and Kara had been making. She dipped her head down, exhaling loudly as she reeled in her anger.
"I did say something," she repeated, in a more controlled tone. "I told you I wanted you. I told you that I was scared but that I wanted you. I wanted this. Us. And you looked me in the eye and told me that we should move on. You didn't even give me a chance. You didn't even allow my words to wash over you before you decided that I wasn't worth the fight. I was wrong. I admit the parts that I was wrong to. More than once. But you—god, you're so used to being the posterchild of everything good that you forgot that you messed up too. You don't get to say that you care and you don't get to say that you miss me. You called things off."
Kara stared at the woman, she had been right. She couldn't deny that everything that Lena said had some truth to it. Alex had told her that she didn't go about things the right way. Lena had been the product of a loveless childhood, emotional abuse, and abandonment, and the moment she decided to let Kara in the blonde kicked her out. She didn't want to talk to Lena, yes. But partially because she wanted to move on and the other half because she knew that what she had done could have been approached better. She had been angry the last couple of days for even allowing this whole affair to happen. She missed Lena, but telling her that was cruel.
"I know," Kara responded.
She had no right. In the beginning and middle, it had been Lena's fault. In the end, the blame rested on Kara.
The brunette continued to stare at the older woman, both taking each other in. Everything had finally been let out of the dark. Everything about how they felt had been laid out upon the ground. There was nothing left to do, there was nothing left for the women.
Nothing that could be fixed.
Lena waited for Kara to say something else, but when it showed that the blonde had nothing left to say, she nodded her head. Turning around rapidly from the woman, she walked down the street and turned the corner. She was going to go to the hospital, but Kara didn't need to know that. After all, her wrist was no longer her concern.
Kara stumbled into work later than she expected. After her conversation with Lena, she took her sweet time walking back to Catco. She needed to think. She needed to catch the moment that she desperately wanted this morning and allow it to sink in.
And now that she arrived back in CatCo, she couldn't help but be mad at herself. She couldn't help but be upset that she ignored what Alex had told her, but more importantly that she ignored what Lena had said. Lena told her that she was scared. She told her that she was afraid of what they could be because she only gets hurt and instead of thinking about the brunette, Kara was selfishly thinking about herself and how she felt. She should have told Lena that they could talk about what all of that meant. She should have heard someone other than herself that night. But she was so hurt that it took Lena hours to find something to say that she only heard what she had to say. She never listened.
Kara's attention was grabbed at the phone vibrating in her pocket. She sighed and stared at the message before her.
Was that too forward?
Kara sighed. She forgot that she had another problem she hadn't addressed: Natalie. She looked at the text above that one, the one that she never responded to. The one that caused her to run into Lena outside of Porter Tech. It read:
Can I take you out for dinner tonight?
Before Kara could even think of a response, she felt someone run into her and saw them bounce off. Soon, she was standing kneeling in front of Lena and her day unraveled before her. All because of that one text with Natalie. She sighed one more, placing the phone in her pocket, choosing to respond to it when her emotions weren't so…raw.
"Wow, everyone, would you look at that. Look who decided to join us today," Snapper shouted as she walked through the door.
Kara pushed her glasses onto her face, stuttering at the man, "I—I'm sorry. Things were a little busy and—"
"I don't care about whatever excuse you have, Ponytail. You better have an amazing interview after all the time you've spent away."
Kara nodded her head, walking over to her computer to type up the interview in what time she had left in the day. She glanced at the clock, noting that it was three and she had only two hours to listen to the recording and have the story to Snapper.
The blonde placed her ear phones in the device and fast-forwarded the tape from all the awkwardness of its beginning. Opened her document screen and began typing away.
How about this, we finish the interview and then you think on it. If you don't want to go out with me afterwards, I will completely understand. No harm, no foul.
Kara nodded her head, proceeding with the interview.
"Okay," she stated, clearly her throat as she began. "How about we get a little information on your history?"
Natalie leaned back in her seat, choosing to accept the challenge that Kara laid before her. "What exactly would you like to know?"
The blonde shrugged her shoulders, "Do you have any siblings, where did you grow up, you know, small things like that."
Natalie nodded her head, "I have three brothers. Two are older, one is younger. We grew up on a farm in Metropolis and before you pick on my lack of an accent, know that I can bring it back anytime I want to. I just can't walk around talking like this anything in the world of business," Natalie finished with a over-exaggerated thick southern accent. Earning a smile and laugh from the blonde.
"You have a beautiful laugh, Kara Danvers," she responded once the reporter stopped chuckling.
"And your parents," Kara changed the subject.
Natalie shrugged her shoulders, "Alive and well. Last Christmas I was voted unanimously their favorite, so I'm still revealing in that. But I can't let it get to my head, it'll be my brothers by the time this Christmas rolls around. My mom is a Veterinarian and my dad is a Cattle Farmer. And despite all the facts that the Food Inc. documentary brings to life, my dad is doing well working for himself and without being cruel to the animals. My brothers help on the farm occasionally but they don't have the patience to stay long."
Kara smiled at the woman, she enjoyed the way her eyes sparked up when she spoke about her family. "Tell me about your brothers."
Natalie leaned forward, resting her elbows against the table as she spoke, "Well, Hunter and Landon are twins and they have this constant need to be around each other. Though, I'm not sure that has anything to do with them being twins and a lot to do with them being needy," Natalie jokingly winked at Kara, smiling at the woman before she continued. "Anyway, they are video game developers and put the other industries to shame."
Kara placed the recorder onto the table, leaning in towards the woman. "Wait, are your brothers the head of Outré Creations."
Natalie leaned back in her seat once more, giving the blonde an impressed expression. "As a matter of fact, they are. Wow, you really know your developers. Are you a gamer?"
Kara shook her head, "No, I'm not. But my close friend is and he loves all the games that come out of Outré, he went on for hours talking about it one night when they released one of their new games."
The redhead nodded her head, "As much as it pains me to say it, they know their video games. And they are awesome at it. Anyway, Hunter and Landon have that locked down, I have Porter Tech; which creates the software to run their devices on and Grayson—"
"Wait, wait," Kara held her hands up, stopping the woman. "If your brothers are the video game developers and you have a company that creates technology that would make your younger brother an…engineer."
The older woman smiled at the reporter, "Not even close," she replied. "Grayson had always been the different one. He is an aspiring photographer. He's very artsy and likes to catch life in the moment. My parents hate it and my brothers are constantly ridiculing him for not going to a 'real' college and getting a 'real' career. But, I'll let you in on a secret, Kara, one that is off the record."
Natalie leaned in towards the blonde, whispering her response, "He's my favorite."
The blonde smiled once more, Natalie was truly charming. Yes, she knew that the night that she met the redhead in the bar, but that woman was a different type of charming. She was more alluring in the sexual sense. This time, she was more alluring in the fact that she was just charming and funny.
"Do you have any siblings, Kara?"
The blonde nodded her head, offering a small smile. "I do, an older sister. Her name is Alex."
"Do you two get along?"
Kara nodded her head, "We do, she is one of my best friends."
Natalie nodded her head in response, "Isn't it great, its life having lifelong partners in crime."
Kara smiled, "I never considered that."
The redhead offered the blonde a smile of her own, "Next question?"
Kara nodded her head, "You said that you moved to National City because of the opportunities, but it has been six months since your business has popped up and nothing seems to have come out of that move. Why is that?"
The redhead widened her blue eyes, once again staring at the woman impressively. "Wow, and here I thought we were starting off with easy questions."
"Sorry," Kara began, fidgeting with her glasses.
"Don't be, it's kind of hot. Well…I moved here after the Myriad debacle. I heard about how technology was the main reason the city become mind controlled drones and I thought that the city needed to be prepared for things like that to happen. So, I went to the drawing board and came up with this plan, one that would create the best technology to stop something like that from ever happening again. One that would protect the city when Supergirl has everything stacked against her. We haven't come out with anything because financially, we don't really need to. And besides, I have all my specialist and engineers working on this particular project. I want to make sure it is good to go. No errors, I want it to be the best of its kind. We are only a couple of weeks off from the prototype but I'm confident that it will be amazing."
The blonde smiled, "Would it be possible for me to know the name of this technology? Or what it will do exactly?"
Natalie shook her head, "All in good time, Kara Danvers. All in good time. Maybe when it comes out, I'll give you an exclusive."
Kara finished typing as she listened to the click of the recorder, signaling the end of the recording. Despite her annoyance from the day, she had to admit, she did manage to get a good interview. One that Snapper and Cat would be appreciative off. It had the perfect mixture of fluff and informative information the piece was looking for.
She sent the article to the printer and looked at her phone. It was now five o'clock and the reporter's room was cleared out, excluding Kara and Snapper. The blonde leaned back in her chair, waiting for the article to print as she unlocked her phone and traveled to her messages.
She stared at the messages from Natalie, requesting to have dinner with her. The blonde contemplated that. Natalie seemed like a nice woman. It wouldn't kill her to go out on a date with her. She was kind, smart, funny, sweet, and beautiful. Any woman, or man, would be lucky to have Natalie on their arm. They would be lucky to have the redhead pining after them. So, why was it so hard for Kara to send back a message telling her that she would like to have dinner with her?
The blonde rolled her eyes. She didn't need to ask the question, she already knew the answer: Lena. She had just gotten out of her own little messy affair with the brunette she wasn't ready for whatever Natalie was willing to offer her. Not when things with her and Lena were so new. Not when she didn't know what she wanted anymore. Besides, Kara was not ready for anything with Natalie when the only person on her mind right now, had been Lena Luthor.
She wondered if Lena went to the hospital. She wondered if the woman checked out her clearly broken wrist and concussed head. She wanted to know that Lena was okay. She needed to know that the brunette was taking care of herself.
"Danvers," Snapper snapped.
Kara jumped at the man's tone, forcing her to wonder how long he had been calling her. "Yes," she replied meekly.
"I said, 'Are you going to hand me that article anytime soon,' or would you rather stare at your phone?"
Kara stood up quickly from her chair, giving her article to Snapper. "About time," he muttered. He quickly glanced over the interview, flipping the page, and humming at what was written on the page. "Have a nice night, Ponytail."
Kara nodded her head, knowing that it was Snapper's way of telling her she did a good job. As she walked in the elevator she continued to stare at her phone. Bouncing between the idea of calling to check on Lena and responding to Natalie at all. She didn't know what she wanted. Not anymore. Kara admittedly found herself more lost than she had been in a while.
She sighed, choosing to call the only woman she knew would pick up. "Hello," she answered.
"Alex, I need your help," Kara responded.
"Hey, Kara. What? My day was wonderful. Thanks so much for asking. What did I do? Well, nothing much, I just stood around at the DEO. Got some knife throwing in, which was nice. I hit the center of almost every target. And I'm supposed to have dinner with Maggie later tonight, which I am excited about too. But enough about me, how about you?"
Kara rolled her eyes at her older sister. "Sorry. I should have started the conversation off better, how was your day?"
Alex chuckled in the receiver, "Didn't you just hear me. I already told you how my day was. What's up, Kar, what do you need my help with?"
"I ran into Lena today. Literally, I was walking out of Porter Tech and she ran into me. She landed on the ground badly. I'm sure she had a broken wrist and a concussion. Anyway, we talked and she is pissed and we said some things and I want to talk to her but I don't know what to say. Or if I have the right to make sure she is okay."
Alex remained silent on the line, not offering her sister the advice she craved. "Alex," Kara whined into the receiver.
"I'm sorry, I was just waiting for the question that you have. All that was a summary of your day, not really a question," her older sister responded.
"My question is, what should I do?"
"About what?"
Kara sighed into the receiver, "About Lena, what should I do about Lena?"
The blonde heard her sister sigh on the other line, "What do you want to do about Lena, Kara?"
Kara rolled her eyes, deciding that this call might be less productive than she hoped. "You know what, Alex, never mind. I will just talk to you later."
"No, Kara, wait," Alex interrupted, "I'm not trying to be difficult. I'm genuinely asking what do you want to do about Lena? It's been almost three weeks now and you constantly talk about her one day and then the next you're saying that she is better off without you. Then, the next day you do a complete 180 and say that you're actually the one that is better off without her. And now, lord and behold, you're calling me again and saying that you want to talk to her but 'don't know what to say.' You can't keep doing this, Kara."
The blonde sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose and she stopped walking on the streets. Holding the phone in her head as her sister spoke. "If you want her. If you really want to be with her, go talk to her. Despite not having something to say, go and talk to her. See how she is doing, clear the air that you never got the chance to. Don't be upset that she is upset because you both are entitled to your emotions. Or, you can do what you said you would and move on. Stop telling yourself that it's okay to think about her and stop with the what ifs. If you don't believe that the two of you being a thing is a good thing, then don't be. Move on, Kara. But either way, you need to decide, and do it tonight. Because, this isn't fair to you or Lena. And quite frankly me. I can't keep picking you up and giving you amazing advice for you not to listen. Although, I will, I feel like your forcing me to become an enabler."
Kara remained silent on the line. Alex was right, but she didn't know what to say to any of that. She needed to talk to Lena or she needed to move on. But all of that was easier said than done and in the long run she found herself having more than one problem: she had Natalie to deal with too.
"She asked me on a date, you know?"
Alex exhaled, "Lena asked you out?"
Kara shook her head, noting that Alex couldn't see her she spoke into the speaker, "No, not Lena. Natalie. She asked me out today after the interview."
"Kara," Alex began, "Who the hell is Natalie?"
The blonde groaned, she had forgotten that she left this part out of her recap, that day with Alex. She had forgotten that in confessing what had happened that night, she left that she brought a woman home out of the equation.
"It's a long story, Al."
The brunette cleared her throat. Waiting a long moment to respond to her sister, "Maggie and I aren't having dinner until seven. I'll meet you at your place. We can have a mini-sister night. You talk, I'll listen and give advice that you'll just ignore anyway. Sound good?"
The reporter gave a weak smile, enjoying the idea of being able to get everything off her chest and talk to Alex about what she should do. She nodded her head into the receiver, once again, realizing that her sister could not see her. "Sounds good."
"Okay, good, see you soon."
Lena stepped off the elevator with her arm wrapped from the middle of her forearm well onto her wrist. After leaving Kara, she went to the hospital that confirmed her suspicions: she had broken her wrist and would be in a cast for the next two to three months. As if her week couldn't have gotten worse. Once he stepped out of the hospital, the brunette had decided that she would return to work instead of home. If she remained at home it would give her too much time to think. It would allow her the time to replay back the conversation she had with Kara. It would allow the brunette to hear the blonde say, "I miss you," a thousand and one ways. She didn't need to hear that. She had already played this game once and if she did it again she was sure she couldn't bear the heartache. She barely could now.
"I could have sworn that I told you no interview," she stated stepping off the elevator and seeing Benjamin laid out on the floor of her waiting room.
"You did," he grunted out, sitting up off the floor. "But what can I say, I'm persistent."
"And obviously not a good worker, being that it is currently five and you've been here all day," she stated walking past the man and to her assistant's desk.
"I guess you could say that. Hey, what happened to you," he questioned. He stood up following behind the woman.
"None of your business," she murmured.
Hector looked up from his desk and onto his boss, asking her the same question the other man had, by simply raising his eyebrows. "I ran into someone, fell awkwardly. Broken wrist and mild-concussion," she spoke to the man. "Nothing to worry about."
Hector looked at the woman once more, knowing that it was best not to push her on the subject he gestured to her office. "Engineering brought up some more prototypes for you to test and review. There were no important calls, but there was one from Porter Tech asking for assistance with one of their devices. I told them I would pass the message on and get back to them. And, as you can see, Benjamin…" Hector stopped. Looking over the brunette's shoulder he furrowed his eyebrows searching for the man's last name.
Benjamin quickly spoke up, "Fitzgerald."
Fixing his hair as he waited for the assistant to continue, "Yes, Benjamin Fitzgerald from CatCo wants an interview for their piece next week."
Lena nodded her head, "I'll check out the prototypes first. Ignore Porter Tech for a second, if it's important they will call back some time tomorrow. And as for Mr. Fitzgerald: I've already told him where I stood on the matter of him interviewing me. You don't have to deal with him any longer."
Lena moved towards her office, "Wait, all I want is a quote. That's all I want and I can write up the rest."
Lena opened the door to her office, shouting "Have a nice evening behind her."
She threw her purse onto the couch and walked over to the devices on her desk. She smiled to herself, excited to see that all her work was finally starting to pay off. Truth be told, she had been working on this collection for the past nine months. But, ever since she and Kara became a thing, she found herself a little distracted lately. This break up was a terrible thing for Lena, but good for her business.
She grabbed the first prototype, "The Alien Detection Device." She had no doubt that the device worked, but she was a little hesitant about creating the device in the first place. In the hands of the police, it would be a great thing. It would be something that they could use to detect aliens and meta-humans. It would allow them to know that they were up against when they detained the criminals. But, she acknowledged that it could also do bad things. It could segregate the aliens from the humans. It could force police officers to profile and misuse their power. It was something smart to have around, but she wasn't sure it would be best to release to the public.
Regardless, it was the investors and boards favorite thing about her fall prototype collection blueprints; and if she didn't at least show that their money went into the research and creation of the device she could lose more investors than she could count. The device had to be showcased at the gala, whether she released it would be up to her.
She moved on from the ADD to the creation she was most proud of, and the one that would certainly piss off her anti-alien investors. She called the device "Acclimation." The name wasn't clever but it described the device perfectly. "Acclimation" created to help aliens acclimate to their surroundings. Most aliens were happy with the way they looked. However, most aliens were judged and targeted by their overtly blue skin, their horns, or sharp ears. Regardless, a lot of the alien population had a problem living because they couldn't acclimate to the world they had around them. Kara had it easy because the blonde looked human, but other aliens didn't have such luxuries. This device would allow the alien to blind in with society. It would allow them to look human for as long as they kept it on. It was an optional device and would be sold at a reasonable price. Lena was, by no means, insinuating that all aliens didn't look beautiful in the skin they were born in. She was simply creating a tool that might make their lives easier, should they choose to have it.
Her third device was targeted for local hospitals. Being that there is an influx of aliens in National City, Lena thought it would only be rational for them to have the technology to take care of them. Apparently. In the last year, hundreds of lives had been lost because doctors were misinformed on the alien autonomy and ill equipped to help. So, Lena created machinery that would be able to identify aliens and access how they could be helped, based off their biological necessities. The machine itself, of course, couldn't fit on the Luthor's desk, but the hard drive for it did and she would have to check it out tonight.
Finally, her last device of the collection was the "Black Burst Generator." Recently, there had been a rumor going around that criminals were selling alien weapons on the black market. Selling illegal weapons was already a bad thing, but if they were alien weapons Lena was sure that it would only get worse. So, she created a black body field generator that could reach the equilibrium of any alien weapons, therefore, by absorbing its electromagnetic radiation, it would ruin the weapons and disarm the criminals, simultaneously. It was the perfect weapon for NCPD and NCFD, they would be able to stop criminals without having to call Supergirl.
Lena smiled to herself, sitting down at her desk as she looked over the prototypes. Something good was coming out of all of this. Something good was coming out of her misery. She winced when she reached out for her laptop, forgetting for a moment that her wrist had been broken. She sighed, reaching in her pocket and taking another painkiller dry.
Lena spent the next hour or two fixing minor errors for the files to the prototypes. For the most part, her engineering team had done everything right, she just needed to make sure the device was perfect. Soon, the woman received a knock to her door, she called out for it to be opened, watching as Hector strode in. He placed a container on her desk, "You need to eat something with your medicine."
The brunette offered a smile to the man, "How do you know that I'm taking the medicine they gave me?"
He shrugged his shoulders, "Figured you would be, you and pain don't actually go hand in hand. You're more of a numbing 'til its gone kind of person."
The woman smiled at the man's assumption. "You would be right."
He offered the woman another smile. "So, what happened to your hand?"
Lena furrowed her eyebrows, taking a bite of the veggie burger Hector brought her. "I told you, I ran into someone."
"Did you run into someone or did you run into a wall, how did all of that give you a concussion and a broken wrist?"
Lena shrugged her shoulders, I ran into the Girl of Steel, she thought, only to settle on "Weak bones, I guess. Or you know, the universe making sure that when they kick me, I stay down."
Her assistant gave her a weak smile, "How was the other person? The one you ran into, I mean. Are they okay?"
Lena nodded her head, "She is fine and dandy. You'd never guess who it was."
Hector leaned over the woman's desk, collecting the folder to the prototypes from the woman. "Who?"
"Guess," she responded. She handed the man the folder she had finished perfecting, motioned for him to place the devices on the cart in front of her desk and off her table.
"Your mother," he joked. Lena smiled at her assistant thankful for his comfort around her.
"No, not quite. The universe if cruel, but not that cruel."
Hector smiled at his boss, placing the final prototype onto the cart before pondering the question longer. He laughed at a thought, looking back at the woman, "Oh, could it have been a certain blue-eyed reporter who broke your heart."
Lena didn't respond to the man, she simply continued to stare at him; waiting for the realization to kick in. "Oh, shut up! Are you serious? You ran into Kara."
Lena nodded her head, "Full force, right outside of Porter Tech. She was leaving and wasn't paying attention."
Hector shook his head, moving the cart from in front of the woman, "Wow, you weren't kidding, when the universe comes after you, it doesn't pull any punches."
Lena chuckled nodding her head, "Very true."
"Are you okay? I mean, with seeing her and all?"
She didn't know. She honestly hadn't expected her day to turn out the way it did. And although she was upset to see Kara, she was relieved to see that the younger woman was just as broken as she was. It told her that she was more than a fling. It told her that after all of this, she wasn't the only one who came out the relationship with scars.
Lena shrugged her shoulders once more, "We argued. She told me that she missed me and that she needed to make sure that I was taking care of myself. I told her that she has no right to say things like that. Not when she was the one who called things off to begin with. She told me that it wasn't all on her. I told her that she was right but that she would own up to where she went wrong. Then I walked away."
Hector continued to stand in the office, holding onto the cart. "It is what it is, so they say," Lena finished, her eyes suddenly becoming teary.
Her assistant nodded his head, pushing the brunette's food closer to her. "Eat up, please. I'll be back to make sure that you have more in your stomach than wine and painkillers. Also, promise me no wine, Lena."
"I promise. I heard they don't mix well," she responded with a shy smile; happy with her joke. Hector gave a fake "ha-ha" laugh as he started to walk out of her office. "Need anything while I'm gone."
She shook her head, "No, nothing at all."
"Okay, also, Benjamin Fitzgerald is still out there. If you'd ask me, I think you should throw him a bone, eventually. For my sanity's sake. He keeps singing 'It's Not Over Yet.'"
"Yeah," Lena questioned.
"Yeah, we can't blame every reporter at CatCo for "She Who Must Not Be Named.'"
The woman nodded her head in a response, "I'll think about it."
"Alright. If you need anything know where to find me when you do. I'll come running."
The brunette gave a weak smile to her assistant. Thanking him silently for not pushing the subject or asking anything else about the blonde. She didn't need to have the woman on her mind. She had the gala, she had the trust of National City, a great assistant, and inventions that would certainly make the alien community thrive. Despite how it seemed things were starting to look up. Today, and the last two weeks, were bad. But that didn't mean that it would stay that way forever. Lena had to believe that it wouldn't stay this way forever. Things had to start to look up, she had success within this business, maybe that could be enough.
Kara opened her apartment door, watching dumbfoundedly as a smaller woman, who was not Alex, pushed past her.
"Before you get upset, she was standing next to me when I was on the phone with you. She insisted on coming," Alex quickly stated.
"Okay," Maggie stated, "I have the best relationship advice in the world and hate being late for things involving food so, for an hour I'm yours. After that, I'm Alex's so," Maggie clapped her hands as she sat on the stool in front of Kara's kitchen island, "lay it on me."
Kara widened, she turned glaring at Alex. "You told her?!"
Maggie smacked her teeth, motioning towards her girlfriend, who still hadn't walked through the door. "Of course, she told me. She's been worried that you're spiraling into the dark abyss for the last few weeks. I'm surprised that she didn't tell me sooner. Now, do you want my wisdom or not, Little Danvers?"
Kara huffed at the older woman, after a quick moment, she turned to her older sister and motioned for her to come inside. Once Alex was in the door, Kara closed it. She flopped ungracefully onto the seat in front of Maggie.
"So, first things first, LD, who the hell is Natalie and what does she have to do with the love affair with the Luthor?"
Kara quickly looked at her sister, who moved to sit next to her girlfriend. Alex held her hands out, surrendering under her sister's glare. "I told you, she was standing next to me when I was on the phone with you."
Kara sighed, "Natalie is a woman I met a couple of weeks ago in a bar. I brought her back here with the intentions of having sex with her, but when we got here Lena was standing outside of my apartment, wanting to talk."
Alex widened her eyebrows, "Wait, you didn't tell me about that," Maggie stated, staring at her girlfriend.
Alex stuttered, "I—I didn't know," she responded to Maggie before shifting her attention back to her younger sister. "Wait, you brought another girl back home the same day you told Lena you wanted to be with her and Lena still told you she wanted to be with you?"
Kara nodded her head, stiffly.
"Wow, you must be one hell of an animal in bed," Maggie murmured.
The Danvers sisters rewarded the brunette with a glare. "What, I'm just saying. If I was Lena Luthor and grew up with the trust issues she had. Well…come to think of it, I did grow up with the trust issues she had. I can assure you that I wouldn't have taken Alex back if she told me she wanted me one day and slept with someone that same day."
Alex furrowed her eyebrows, drawing her attention to her girlfriend, "Are you saying that I am not animal in bed, then?"
Maggie shook her head, "I'm not saying that, I'm saying that Kara must be amazing to make Lena overlook all her issues including what she did."
"So, you are saying that—"
"Alex, baby, look that came out wrong. All I'm saying is—"
Kara sighed loudly, slamming her head onto her forearms that rested folded on the table. "Can we just stop talking about my sex life and most importantly your sex lives. I just need help, Maggie. I need to know what to do about Lena."
Maggie nodded her head, taking her attention from her girlfriend she made a mental note to explain herself later. The smaller woman placed her hand onto her girlfriend's thigh, "Can we have a moment?"
Alex furrowed her eyebrows, "You're kidding me, right?"
Maggie raised her eyebrows and titled her head, silently asking her girlfriend to give her and her sister some space. Alex huffed, "Fine. I'll be on the roof, not like I wasn't the one you called anyway."
Kara watched as the detective gave her sister a dimpled smile and the two women waited for her to exit the room.
Maggie cleared her throat, leaning onto the table before she spoke. "Okay, I am going to say this once and then we are never going to speak of it, again. I think you're great and everything but there is only one person I want to be vulnerable around and know all my secrets. And it's her," Maggie pointed towards the door Alex had just walked out of. "So, after this you don't mention anything. You don't say anything about anything, okay?"
Kara nodded her head, silently telling the woman that she could continue. "I shouldn't be with Alex," Maggie began, "I shouldn't be with Alex, at all, come to think of it. She kissed me and I told her that I was not interested. Then I waited weeks to even tell her how I felt. By your logic and my own, I shouldn't be with her. But, despite all the shit she has been through and having her heart broken more than once, she trusted me enough to let me in. She gave herself to me without any questions. And it has been amazing. Look, my point is, sometimes you don't know you have a good thing until it hits you."
"Sometimes, people like Lena and me are so used to being screwed over that we don't think of a possibility of anything turning out well. Even if things are going wonderfully we are constantly waiting for the other shoe to drop. Hell, I'm still waiting for the other shoe to drop with Danvers and things have been going great. But, I'll tell you this. The only thing that separates me from Lena is the fact that I had an aunt to showed me love when my parents pushed me away. Lena has no one. Her own brother tried to kill her for God's sake. Her telling that she wanted you was a huge step. It wasn't as graceful as you thought it would have been, but she wobbled and got there anyway."
Kara stared at the woman, "So, you're saying that I should have taken her back that night."
Maggie pushed herself off the table, sitting up in a response, "No, LD, I'm not saying that you should have taken her back that night. I'm not sure what you should have done that night. I'm saying that from that night and on, if you wanted to be with her you should have made the move already. I'm saying that if you want Lena, go after her. If you want a chance of being happy and being happy with someone you want the same thing with, then go after her. Stop trying to figure out who was right and who was wrong and just go. Figure out all that stuff along the way or leave it behind you. Because this, this pathetic look you have on your face doesn't come from not having cared about Lena Luthor in the first place."
Kara sighed, "And what about Natalie?"
"What about her?"
"What do I tell her?"
Maggie rolled her eyes, "This is the problem you Danvers have with being so kind. You think that you owe people an explanation outside of 'yes' and 'no.' Tell Natalie that you would not like to go on a date with her. And tell Lena that you want to talk."
Kara nodded her head once more, but she groaned once more when another realization dawned upon her. "But I wouldn't even know where to begin. What do I say to her? Do we pick back up where we left off, do we start over?"
"How about neither. You don't have to start from the beginning or pick up from the end. Why not just meet in the middle of everything and take it from there? Enough of trying to plan everything Danvers. Just start somewhere or you'll end up where you are now."
Kara bit her lip, staring helplessly at the woman, "What would I say," she whispered.
"I can't help you there, Danvers."
"What if she hates me," Kara questioned, her tone still barely above a whisper.
"You have to love something before you hate it, appeal to the part of her that still loves you."
"What if she says she doesn't want this after all. What if she hears what I have to say and tells me leave," the blonde asked.
Maggie placed her hand onto the younger woman's offering it a squeeze, requesting that she look at her. "Then you leave with your head held high, knowing that you went down swinging."
"What if I'm scared?"
"Aren't we all," Maggie retorted.
Maggie stood up from her seat, keeping her hand on the superhero. "Feelings are disturbing, Kara. But they are here to wake you up, not hold you back. Don't let it hold you back, you're the Girl of Steel. Be the Girl of Steel."
With that, Maggie gave a last squeeze to Kara's hand, "Now, I'm going to go on the roof and talk to your sister. If I don't I'm sure there won't be a dinner tonight. Let us know what happens?"
Kara nodded her head to the smaller woman, "Maggie," she called out, hearing her front door open.
"Yeah, Little Danvers?"
"Thank you," Kara replied earnestly.
"Anytime," Maggie replied leaving the house and Kara alone to her thoughts.
She was freaking out.
Granted, she had been freaking out the moment she decided that she would swallow her pride and visit Lena. But now, she was on a whole other level of freaking out. A level that even the Girl of Steel, herself, felt that she would fall and never recover from.
She didn't know what she was doing here. She didn't have a speech planned, she didn't have a lot to say. She only concluded that she wanted to see Lena. She only concluded that she needed to talk to the brunette about what had been on her mind the last couple of days. She concluded that she needed something to tell her. Something to hold onto.
Maggie was right, she couldn't let her feelings control her. She couldn't continue to walk around feeling the way she did.
Kara bit her lip, she noticed that Lena's assistant hadn't been there anymore. So, getting access to the boss was easier than she expected. The only thing holding her back now was herself.
"You can do this," she whispered to herself, "You're Supergirl for Rao's sake, you can do this."
Lena's door had been cracked open, Kara moved to push the door open. Only to quickly stop herself. She froze where she stood, looking at the moment unravel before her. Lena leaned against her desk with her arms folded and in front of her stood Benjamin Fitzgerald, leaning down, placing a kiss upon her lips.
Maggie was right, feelings were disturbing and at that moment, Kara was troubled.
Sorry for the wait, figured I'd make this chapter really long to make up for it. I hope you enjoyed it, it was fun to write! I can't wait to hear what you all have to say. See you soon!